The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

10 May 29, 2022The Sunday Times

Travel European escapes

Queen Victoria, befriended

Buffalo Bill and sold paintings

for a fortune. Post mortem she

fell from favour, but she’s now

esteemed once more — look

at Labourage Nivernais

(Ploughing in the Nivernais)

and you’ll doubtless agree.

The 200-work celebration

at the Musée des Beaux-Arts

runs until September 18 then

moves to the Musée d’Orsay

in Paris from October 17

(£6; musba-bordeaux.fr).

Details Room-only doubles

at Hôtel Maison du Lierre,

a city-centre oasis of calm,

from £134 (hotel-maison

DIEPPE RAID

On August 19, 1942, an attack

on Dieppe’s coastal defences

claimed the lives of nearly a

thousand Canadian soldiers.

The port and surrounding

settlements are observing the

80th anniversary of Operation

Jubilee with march-pasts,

military music, guided visits

and a ceremony on the

seafront Canada Square — all

taking place between August

18 and 20 (mairie-dieppe.fr).

But the main event is on the

D-Day beaches at Courseulles-

sur-Mer, where the Canadian-

run Juno Beach Centre is

holding a commemorative

exhibition titled From Dieppe

to Juno until the end of the

year (£3; junobeach.org).

Details Room-only doubles

at Hôtel d’Argouges in

Bayeux — well placed for

the cathedral, tapestry and

Courseulles — from £71

(hotel-dargouges.com).

Take the ferry to Ouistreham

ANIMAL ART IN BORDEAUX

Born in Bordeaux two

centuries ago this year, the

artist Rosa Bonheur was

also a trailblazing feminist. She

dared to wear trousers despite

requiring permission from

local authorities to do so, met

→Continued from page 9

Rosa Bonheur was a trailblazing feminist who dared

to wear trousers and sold paintings for a fortune

Clockwise from above: Rosa Bonheur’s art; a Cosquer Cave

painting; Fontevraud will be lit up for evening art shows

dulierre-bordeaux.com).

Fly to Bordeaux

PARIS MUSEUM MAKEOVER

If, amid the pandemonium

of the capital, you need a

moment to rest your head

and take the long view, the

National Museum of the

Middle Ages is your place.

Emerging from a complete

overhaul, its spanking-new

reception area gives way to

historic buildings where the

approach is now satisfyingly

chronological rather than

thematic. Medieval treasures

abound — though the six Dame

à la Licorne (Lady and the

Unicorn) tapestries justify

the entry fee in themselves

(£10; musee-moyenage.fr).

Details Room-only doubles

at the nearby French Theory,

a cool spot with a café, wine

cellar and music rooms,

from £133 (frtheory.com).

Take the Eurostar to Paris

MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATIONS

OF THE LOIRE

Fontevraud, the greatest of all

medieval monastic complexes,

is stunning by day; by night —

lit up from July 15 to August 21

in the Étoiles de Fontevraud

Son et Lumière — it enters an

ethereal dimension. This year

there will be a focus on the

recumbent funerary effigies

of the Plantagenets, but

there’s also an evening show

of contemporary art. If it is

half as good as last year’s

inaugural spectacle it will be

spellbinding (fontevraud.fr;

£12) — plus it furnishes the

excuse to stay at the on-site

hotel and dine at its Michelin-

starred restaurant among

the cloisters (four-course

menu £63).

Details Room-only doubles

at the sober but distinctly

non-monastic Fontevraud

L’Hôtel from £108

(fontevraud.fr). Fly to Tours

or Poitiers then hire a car

F.DEVAL; ABACA PRESS, HERVÉ LENAIN/ALAMY